Dog Medicine: How My Dog Saved Me from Myself

At 22 Julie Barton collapsed on her kitchen floor in Manhattan. She was one year out of college and severely depressed. Summoned by Julie's incoherent phone call, her mother raced from Ohio to New York and took her home. Haunted by troubling childhood memories, Julie continued to sink into suicidal depression. Psychiatrists, therapists, and family tried to intervene, but nothing reached her until the day she decided to do one hopeful thing: adopt a golden retriever puppy she named Bunker.

Soul of a Dog

With its endearing blend of humor, wisdom, and insight, Soul of a Dog, by New York Times best-selling author Jon Katz, illuminates the interaction between humans and animals.

Although he features his ever-faithful border collie, Rose, Katz also includes revealing observations about Mother the murderous barn cat, Elvis the doughnut-loving steer, and his other dogs - Izzy, Lenore, and Pearl.

Izzy and Lenore

Jon Katz is the New York Times best-selling author of numerous nonfiction tales of man's best friend. Here he presents the story of two dogs that profoundly affected his life and work. Skittish border collie Izzy pushes him into rewarding work with Hospice. And black lab Lenore's gentle spirit helps remind him why he wanted to work with animals in the first place.

You can't always count on people, but you can always count on your dog. No one knows that better than veterinarian Jessica Vogelsang, who, with the help of three dogs, is buoyed through adolescence, veterinary school, and the early years of motherhood. Taffy, the fearsome Lhasa; Emmett, an amiable golden; and Kekoa, the neurotic senior Labrador are always by her side, offering lessons in empathy and understanding for all the oddballs and misfits who come through the vet clinic doors.

The Second Chance Dog: A Love Story

In 2007, a few years after purchasing Bedlam Farm in upstate New York, Jon Katz met Maria Wulf, a quiet, sensitive artist hoping to rekindle her creative spark. Jon, like her, was introspective yet restless, a writer struggling to find his purpose. He felt a connection with her immediately, but a formidable obstacle stood in the way: Maria' s dog, Frieda. A rottweiler-shepherd mix who had been abandoned by her previous owner in the Adirondacks, where she lived in the wild for several years, Frieda was ferociously protective and barely tamed.

Saving Simon: How a Rescue Donkey Taught Me the Meaning of Compassion

When Jon Katz got a call from an animal control officer about Simon, a neglected donkey who had been found on a failing farm in upstate New York, he wasn't expecting to add another animal to his already full life. But when he made the trek out to meet him, he couldn't help falling in love with the skinny, mangy donkey who had already suffered so much, and he ended up taking him into his home. It was Simon who listened in the fields as Jon read to him and discussed philosophy.

Lessons from Tara: Life Advice from the World's Most Brilliant Dog

David Rosenfelt's loyal followers of the Andy Carpenter series are familiar with Tara, the Golden Retriever sidekick. Many also got to know Tara from Dogtripping, David's tales about becoming a slightly nutty dog rescuer and the dog that started it all. Here, finally, is a book all about the inspirational canine who taught David everything he knows. Well, he did know how to tie his shoes before he met and came to love Tara, but that's about it.

A Dog's Purpose: A Novel for Humans

After a tragically short life as a stray mutt, Bailey is surprised to find himself reborn as a rambunctious golden-haired puppy. Bailey's search for his new life's meaning leads him into the loving arms of eight-year-old Ethan. During their countless adventures, Bailey joyously discovers how to be a good dog. But this life as a beloved family pet is not the end of Bailey's journey. Reborn as a puppy yet again, Bailey wonders, will he ever find his purpose?

Dog Days

Living with four dogs on a rural New York farm is one thing. But what happens when you add a couple cows, four donkeys, a growing flock of sheep, a few hens, a temperamental rooster, and even Mother (a barn cat) to the mix?

Rose in a Storm

In Rose in a Storm, Rose is a working dog devoted to keeping the sheep and other creatures at Bedlam Farm out of danger. But as the weather grows cold, Rose senses danger - a storm unlike any she’s seen. When an epic blizzard finally strikes, Rose needs all her courage to help her master save the farm.

Dog Crazy: A Novel of Love Lost and Found

As a pet bereavement counselor, Maggie Brennan uses a combination of empathy, insight, and humor to help patients cope with the anguish of losing their beloved four-legged friends. Though she has a gift for guiding others through difficult situations, Maggie has major troubles of her own that threaten the success of her counseling practice and her volunteer work with a dog rescue organization.

Dancing Dogs: Stories

With his signature insight and gift for storytelling, Jon Katz here shares 16 stories about one of life’s most unique relationships. In the title story, a housekeeper loses her job, but discovers her four-legged “children” have some toe-tapping talents that just may get the whole family back on its feet.

The Dog Who Saved Me: A Novel

In Susan Wilson's The Dog Who Saved Me, former Boston K-9 unit policeman turned animal control officer in bucolic Harmony Farms is up against rescuing a gun shy and wounded dog gone feral, and proving that his low-life older brother is back in the drug business.

Scent of the Missing: Love and Partnership with a Search-and-Rescue Dog

After the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, Susannah Charleson was so impressed by the newspaper photo of an exhausted handler and his search-and-rescue dog that she decided to train a dog of her own. A dog lover and pilot with search experience herself, Charleson got Puzzle, a strong, bright Golden Retriever, who from the start, exhibited a unique aptitude for search-and-rescue work. But the puppy’s willfulness challenged even Susannah, who had raised dogs for years.

One Good Dog

Adam March is a self-made “Master of the Universe.” He has it all: the beautiful wife, the high-powered job, the glittering circle of friends. But there is a price to be paid for all these trappings, and the pressure is mounting—until the day Adam makes a fatal mistake. His assistant leaves him a message with three words: your sister called.

Rescue Road: One Man, Thirty Thousand Dogs and a Million Miles on the Last Hope Highway

For years Greg Mahle struggled to keep the last of his family-run restaurants afloat in Ohio. When it finally closed, he was broke and unsure what to do next. Then a stranded vanload of puppies changed his life forever. Join journalist Peter Zheutlin as he travels with Greg from Ohio to the Gulf Coast on his Rescue Road Trips to bring hard-luck dogs from the Deep South to loving "forever families" up north, with the help of many selfless volunteers along the way.

Perfect Peace: A Novel

When the seventh child of the Peace family, named Perfect, turns eight, her mother, Emma Jean, tells her bewildered daughter, "You was born a boy. I made you a girl. But that ain't what you was supposed to be. So from now on, you gon' be a boy. It'll be a little strange at first, but you'll get used to it, and this'll be over after while." From this point forward, his life becomes a bizarre kaleidoscope of events. Meanwhile, the Peace family is forced to question everything they thought they knew about gender, sexuality, unconditional love, and fulfillment.

A Big Little Life: A Memoir of a Joyful Dog Named Trixie

In a profound, funny, and beautifully rendered portrait of a beloved companion, bestselling novelist Dean Koontz remembers the golden retriever who changed his life. A retired service dog, Trixie was three when Dean and his wife, Gerda, welcomed her into their home. She was superbly trained, but her greatest gifts couldn’t be taught: her keen intelligence, her innate joy, and an uncanny knack for living in the moment.

Chaser: Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words

Chaser has a way with words. She knows over a thousand of them—more than any other animal of any species except humans. In addition to common nouns like house, ball, and tree, she has memorized the names of more than one thousand toys and can retrieve any of them on command. Based on that learning, she and her owner and trainer, retired psychologist John Pilley, have moved on to further impressive feats, demonstrating her ability to understand sentences with multiple elements of grammar and to learn new behaviors by imitation.

Understanding and Training Your Border Collie Dog & Puppy to Be Good

You will learn how to make your dog a trusted and reliable member of the family, and not have to worry about them making trouble or getting into trouble. If you are lucky enough to own a Border Collie, you should really read this book to make your life easier and more fun and enjoyable with your Border Collie puppy or dog!

How to Steal a Dog

Barbara O’Connor’s How to Steal a Dog blew critics away and quickly became a fan-favorite. After being abandoned by her father, Georgina Hayes is forced to spend much of her time watching her younger brother, while their mother works two jobs to make ends meet. When she sees a missing-dog poster offering a $500 reward, Georgina cooks up a scheme to steal a look-a-like dog and claim the reward. But things don’t quite go as planned.

The Nix: A Novel

It's 2011, and Samuel Andresen-Anderson - college professor, stalled writer - has a Nix of his own: his mother, Faye. He hasn't seen her in decades, not since she abandoned the family when he was a boy. Now she's reappeared, having committed an absurd crime that electrifies the nightly news, beguiles the Internet, and inflames a politically divided country. The media paints Faye as a radical hippie with a sordid past, but as far as Samuel knows, his mother was an ordinary girl who married her high school sweetheart.

Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love

In the best-selling tradition of Rescuing Sprite comes the story of a puppy brought back from the brink of death, and the family he adopted. Heartwarming and redemptive, Oogy is the story of the people who were determined to rescue this dog against all odds, and of the family who took him home, named him "Oogy" (an affectionate derivative of ugly), and made him one of their own.

A Dog Named Boo: How One Dog and One Woman Rescued Each Other - And the Lives They Transformed Along the Way

The last thing Lisa Edwards needed was a new dog. But when she came across an abandoned litter on Halloween, her heart went out to the runt who walked into walls and couldn't steady his feet. Lisa - healing from past abuse and battling constant pain from a chronic medical condition - saw a bit of herself in little Boo. And when he snuggled, helpless, against her, she knew he was meant to be hers. The dunce of obedience class with poor eyesight and a clumsy gait, Boo was the least likely of heroes. Yet with his unflappable spirit and boundless love, Boo has changed countless lives through his work as a therapy dog.

Publisher's Summary

Best-selling author and popular talk-show personality Jon Katz has been hailed as the heir to legendary British writer and animal lover James Herriot. In this poignant and deeply personal memoir, Katz shares the story of Orson, the border collie who was his "lifetime dog".

From the very beginning, Orson was a misfit. Like all border collies, he needed to work. But since there weren't any sheep available for herding in the New Jersey suburbs, Orson instead tried to corral school buses, garbage trucks, and skateboarding kids. So Katz pulled up stakes and moved to a farm in upstate New York. There, Orson improved dramatically - until the day he started nipping people. The nips soon turned to bites, forcing Katz to face an incredibly painful decision.

Whether or not you are a dog enthusiast, this emotional audiobook will have you laughing, scratching your head in astonishment, and possibly even shedding a few tears.

This is the first of a series of books highly recommended by Jon Katz. I loved the book, but for the first one about his life and the dogs...............this is very sad-be prepared. (it didn't help that by beloved dog Hobbes just died)

As a life long pet owner,I know the highs and lows of sharing the lives of our extended familys that are shorter than our own. Animals give us the greatest of highs and the lowest of lows.Jon Katz teaches us how both of these enrich us. This is a great tribute to how powerful a man and an animal relationship can be.

Those of us who have "owned" several dogs over our lifetimes usually have a favorite. The author, Jon Katz, refers to this as our "lifetime dog". Mine was Amica who always wanted to be with me, watched my every move and even snoozed next to the couch where I napped. For Katz it was Orson, a border collie totally dedicated to him but with problems.

The book, "A Good Dog: The Story of Orson, Who Changed My Life" was written by both Katz and Orson. Orson provided the experiences which Katz, a professional journalist, gave narrative. Orson did not take well to the strict training and shepherding competition before he entered Katz's life.

Orson gives Katz a reason to leave suburbia and buy Bedlam Farm in upstate New York. Katz acquires donkeys, sheep and other animals with which he and Orson can interact. But Orson prefers Katz, which is okay until the dog nips and then bites other people. Katz has Orson treated by a veterinarian, a holistic vet and even an animal shaman, but with little lasting result. Katz has to make a decision.

This book will have very special meaning for anyone who has or had a lifetime dog.

Awesome read!!! This book will appeal to all, whether dog ppl or not... Poignant, heartwarming, and thoughtful characters and plot make this rich and vibrant in all ways... There's some good humor, especially from Chance, and the mirroring of human and canine events is subtly and skillfullly done... Warning... You'll need hankies, but spoiler alert - it's a great ending and the good dog pulls through... Definitely worth a credit and you're welcome;)

Would you consider the audio edition of A Good Dog to be better than the print version?

They would be equal.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Good Dog?

The choice to move to the farm in New York in order to stay together.

What about Tom Stechschulte’s performance did you like?

His timing and interpretation of the reading.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Now and forever.

Any additional comments?

The book allows others to perhaps better understand the needs of both humans and animals to interact in a manner that reveals the interconnectivity of life, regardless of whose life it may be. This book contains great joy and sadness, surprise and wonder.